NASK National Research Institute

The incidence of synchronous metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) is rising with the increasing use of next-generation imaging. Local radiotherapy (RT) was shown to improve survival in patients with mHSPC; however, new data require a re-assessment of the indication and value of local RT in mHSPC. In this prospectively registered systematic review and meta-analysis (CRD42025648251), we searched MEDLINE, Scopus, CENTRAL, and Google Scholar in March 2025 for phase 3 RCTs evaluating the addition of RT to systemic therapy to improve OS in mHSPC patients. Hazard ratios (HRs) were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Risk of Bias was assessed with Cochrane's RoB 2 tool. Out of the 10,615 individual records, we identified three RCTs: HORRAD (n=432), STAMPEDE (n=2,061), and PEACE-1 (n=1,173). The systemic treatment included androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in HORRAD, ADT ± Docetaxel in STAMPEDE, and ADT ± Docetaxel±Abiraterone in PEACE-1 trial. Local RT was not associated with significantly improved OS in all patients (HR=0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.85-1.00; p=0.06), or in those with low metastatic burden (HR=0.74; 95%CI 0.51-1.06; p=0.1); however, exploratory analyses showed a significant improvement in androgen deprivation resistance-free survival (HR=0.76; 95%CI 0.70-0.82; p<0.001). Local RT was associated with significant reduction in local prostate cancer related events in the HORRAD (18% vs. 30%) and PEACE-1 (12% vs. 22%) trials, but not in the STAMPEDE trial (49% vs. 51%). Local RT does not improve OS in unselected patients treated with modern systemic therapies for mHSPC. However, it delays ADT resistance and reduces local adverse events, with relatively tolerable toxicity. Future studies should refine selection criteria, ideally using PSMA-PET imaging, dynamic response markers, and/or genomic profiling, to identify mHSPC patients most likely to benefit from local RT.

Objective: This study aims to assess the protective mask notifications used in the Safety Gate / RAPEX system (an early warning system for managing safety used by the European Commission) between 2020 and 2022 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study continues research into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the notification of protective masks for this system. Research Design &amp; Methods: Legacy data analysis combines literature evaluation and critique with document research method. Findings: Notifications on protective masks offered between 2020 and 2022 were analysed taking into account four factors: the types of legal provisions that were not met, the non-compliances uncovered, and the categories of voluntary and required measures applied. In 2020, 41% of notifications failed to refer to a specific standard pertaining to the regulation on personal protective equipment. In contrast, during the two subsequent years, we can observe a systematic decrease in the lack of standard indication. Between 2020 and 2022, the reasons for notifications against protective masks that occurred most frequently included ineffective filtration and the lack of adequate testing of the product by a competent body. Voluntary and required measures taken by economic entities against non-compliant protective masks that may pose risks to consumers have been characterised. Implications / Recommendations: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the completeness of notifications for protective masks in the Safety Gate/RAPEX system and the availability of protective masks that were not tested and had ineffective filtration, to consumers. Voluntary and required measures mostly included product withdrawals from the market and from end users. It is recommended that Member State regulatory authorities improve the quality of the notifications provided. Contribution: Notifications on protective masks are characterised in the Safety Gate/Rapex system in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for continuous improvement of the effectiveness of European market surveillance and the dangerous products early warning system was identified.

Quantum computations are very important branch of modern cryptology. According to the number of working physical qubits available in general-purpose quantum computers and in quantum annealers, there is no coincidence, that nowadays quantum annealers allow to solve larger problems. In this paper we focus on solving discrete logarithm problem (DLP) over binary fields using quantum annealing. It is worth to note, that however solving DLP over prime fields using quantum annealing has been considered before, no author, until now, has considered DLP over binary fields using quantum annealing. Therefore, in this paper, we aim to bridge this gap. We present a polynomial transformation of the discrete logarithm problem over binary fields to the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problem, using approximately 3n2 logical variables for the binary field F2n. In our estimations, we assume the existence of an optimal normal base in the given fields. Such a QUBO instance can then be solved using quantum annealing.

Blind signatures are one of the key techniques of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs). They appear as a component of many schemes, including, in particular, the Privacy Pass technology. Blind-signature schemes provide provable privacy: the signer cannot derive any information about a message signed at user’s request. Unfortunately, in practice, this might be just an illusion. We consider a novel but realistic threat model where the user does not participate in the protocol directly but instead uses a provided black-box device. We then show that the black-box device may be implemented in such a way that, despite a provably secure unblinding procedure, a malicious signer can link the signing protocol transcript with a resulting unblinded signature. Additionally, we show how to transmit any short covert message between the black-box device and the signer. We prove the stealthiness of these attacks in anamorphic cryptography model, where the attack cannot be detected even if all private keys are given to an auditor. At the same time, an auditor will not detect any irregular behavior even if the secret keys of the signer and the device are revealed for audit purposes (anamorphic cryptography model). We analyze the following schemes: (1) Schnorr blind signatures, (2) Tessaro–Zhu blind signatures, and their extensions. We provide a watchdog countermeasure and conclude that similar solutions are necessary in practical implementations to defer most of the threats.

This paper presents a practical approach to building situational awareness at a critical infrastructure entity and its implementation in supporting security management. It outlines the main factors for achieving a high level of situational awareness and ensuring the safety and continuity of business objectives. Among other things, situational awareness requires precise identification and understanding of multilateral dependencies of infrastructure, services, and processes executed by the entity and services provided by external businesses, resulting from the strong interrelationship of the critical infrastructure sectors and the sharing of resources. Accordingly, this paper presents a cyberspace modeling methodology that supports an in-depth analysis of the causes and consequences of threat proliferation in a complex infrastructure–business environment and its implementation in a Situational Awareness Management System (SAMS). An emphasis is placed on threat propagation analysis and dynamic risk assessment mechanisms and how they are used to identify and take preemptive actions protecting or limiting the scope of the threats’ propagation. The paper concludes with insights from a pilot implementation of the system prototype and directions for further work.

Social Engineering attacks are among the most exploited methods in today’s cybersecurity threat landscape. Despite the impact and the volume of such incidents, there is still a surprising lack of comprehensive tools or frameworks offering an in-depth insight into Social Engineering attacks. The paper delivers a handy yet comprehensive framework for the analysis of the Social Engineering tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), distinguishing six major phases of the Social Engineering process, together with detailed TTPs linked with each of them. In the long-term, it may lead to devising better and more effective defense mechanisms against such attacks by providing an in-depth insight into the process and methods behind them. The outcome presents that framework in the form of a legible, transparent, and ready-to-use matrix, similar to the MITRE ATT&CK matrix. The paper also contains a cross-comparison between the proposed framework and the MITRE ATT&CK to underline the added value of the proposed approach. In order to demonstrate the practical usefulness of the approach proposed in this paper, after formulating the entire framework, we apply it to decompose and analyze in detail some real-life Social Engineering scenarios.

The present review summarizes findings from the NOODLE ("predictioN mOdels fOr enDurance athLetEs") study. The research aimed to refine variables obtained during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in a large cohort of highly trained endurance athletes by adjusting general reference values and predictive equations to better reflect the unique physiological profiles of this population. Ventilatory efficiency, oxygen uptake efficiency slope, oxygen uptake efficiency plateau, and peak oxygen pulse were analyzed, as they were recently applied in various models concerning risk stratification and treatment optimization. As more people engage in endurance sports, tailored CPET assessments are crucial for accurate performance evaluation and health monitoring. By characterizing differences between general formulas and those suited for endurance athletes, we offered improved tools for optimizing training and ensuring athlete safety. The findings are in line with the existing trend of precision medicine that tailors diagnostics, treatments, and interventions to individual patients' characteristics. Moreover, we review the recent advances from widely applied CPET-obtained indices, such as maximum oxygen uptake, maximum heart rate, and breathing reserve. We also gave the recommendation for a comprehensive CPET assessment based on the relationships between all of the variables.

Abstract This paper presents an approach to solving the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem on alternative curve models over prime fields using a quantum annealing and index calculus method. Part of the algorithm, relation searching, is transformed into the Quadratic Unconstrained Boolean Optimization (QUBO) problem and then is efficiently solved using the D-Wave computer by quantum annealing. As Faugère et al. showed, twisted Edwards curves, because of their symmetric shape, allow us to obtain solutions of relations searching step using Groebner basis faster than in the case of Weierstrass curves. Because of symmetries, a system of equations of relations searching step for twisted Edwards curves has many symmetric solutions. Using the Groebner basis and having many system solutions makes it easier to find any of them. The same is true using quantum annealing - it is easier to find any solution to the QUBO problem if many are correct. In this paper, we used this observation to find out that a properly constructed QUBO problem for the relations searching step for twisted Edwards curves allows us to find a solution faster for the same size of the base field than in the case of Weierstrass curves. Using the presented approach, we solved the discrete logarithm problem using quantum annealing and index calculus method for elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem defined on twisted Edwards curve over a field 𝔽1021 with order equal to 4 · 241. It is now the biggest field and size of the group, where the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem was solved using quantum methods.